Bare yourself to me
by Sarah d'Emeraude
Summary: Daryl was nervous. It wasn't hard, was it? It wasn't that hard to explain to Paul his marvelous idea to make them both comfortable with each other and their respective bodies. Except.. it was. And Daryl was really nervous.


**Hello everyone!**

 **Here's a little idea I had during a class, and I needed to write it down before forgetting. It's not much, and it's also not beta read, so forgive me in advance for all the mistakes in the text.**

 **I hope you'll like it anyway!**

 **xx**

* * *

Daryl was nervous.

His lower lip was throbbing painfully, crushed between his teeth for the last 30 minutes at least. While he was waiting for his lover to come home, the hunter had been pacing the trailer restlessly all afternoon.

This thing with Paul? It was new. Very, very new. Like, days old new. But quite weirdly, he wasn't frightened by it. Yet. Because they never got to the more-than-kissing part, and that was the most terrifying thing for the hunter.

Because he knew that Paul was no virgin. Hell, he was dating that douchebag named Alex when they first met, before the war with Negan. When the whole mess had finally ended, Paul broke up with Alex, and Daryl ended up living at the Hilltop with the scout. From that point, things started becoming more heated quickly, until that time a week ago when Daryl finally crushed his lips against Paul's in front of Maggie and Rick.

Daryl wouldn't consider himself a patient man. And this thing with Paul, it had been coming for months. But he could feel the other man's resistance, and once he was 100% sure that it had nothing to do with his non attraction to Daryl but quite the contrary, he had done something about it. Because once again, Daryl wasn't the most patient man.

But the kissing part wasn't the problem. The boyfriend thing either. He had made sure of that when kissing Paul breathless in front of his family. No, the problem was that Paul would probably want to go further at some point.

Daryl was no virgin, contrarily to popular belief (because yes, he had heard Maggie and Glenn talk about it in the prison and while he was quite angry at that time that they would talk about his sex life like that, he had been pretty amused too) but he had never made love to someone before. He had sex, sure. He had fucked guys in some dirty bathrooms, let guys fuck him once or twice, even.  
But he had never made love to anyone, ever. And he didn't know what to do, and how to act with Paul. Not that it really made any differences in the act, but he knew sex with feelings was a pretty huge thing for couples. Or at least, for him. Because Daryl knew that he was head over heals for the man, and it WAS a big deal for him.

So he had an idea. An idea, to make him comfortable with his scars, his broken and old body, and learn to know Paul's as well. BUT, he still had a problem. He didn't know how to explain this idea to Paul, and was afraid of the younger man's reaction.

The door of the trailer opening and closing behind him shook Daryl out of his dreams, and he turned around to face his lover.

"Hey you" said Paul, walking to the hunter and pushing his pink soft lips against Daryl's. "Missed you today. Did you eat? I ate something with Rick along the road, I'm sorry I didn't wait for you."  
"Nah, I'm good" rasped Daryl, licking his lips to gather Paul's taste and enjoy it a little longer.

The scout was following the movement of his tongue with dark blue eyes, and Daryl felt himself blush.

"I'm pretty worn out" he finally said, swallowing thickly. "I'm gonna head to bed. You coming?"

Once again, Daryl had the confirmation that the young man wouldn't push him to do anything, and something in his belly fluttered in the most wonderful way.

"Daryl? You okay?"

He could feel Paul's concern irradiating from the man. He couldn't blame him, though. He was standing stiff in the middle of the trailer, looking like a deer caught in a spotlight probably, too. He knew that he hadn't been this tense for days, since before all of this started with Paul.

"Daryl? Please tell me you're not breaking up with me. You realized you had made a mistake, right?" finally whispered the scout, looking sadder than Daryl had ever seen.  
"What? No! Paul, I'm the one who kissed ya, you jerk. I'm not letting you go so soon!"

Even if the smaller man did look a little less sad, it didn't erase his concern.

"I just… I need to ask you something, Paul."

He knew the young man loved when he was calling him by his first name. And this time was no exception. A light blush covered Paul's cheeks, and he smiled.

"Yes? Whatever you want, Daryl."  
"Please don't laugh at me."  
"I would never laugh at you, and you know that."

Daryl sighed.

"I wanted to ask you if you'd be okay… lying in bed, with me." he blurted out, almost whispering at that point.

Paul frowned, looking at the bed then back at Daryl slowly.

"Yeah.. Sure. But we've been doing this for days now, what's changed?" he finally asked, carefully.

Daryl groaned.

"No, not… not like that. I meant, naked."  
"Oh."

This time, Paul looked even more confused than before. He frowned again, and Daryl wanted to roll his eyes.

"I want to have sex with you" he explained, as carefully as he could. "But not… tonight."  
"Okay."  
"I need to…" he stopped, unsure. He wanted to tell Paul everything, he wanted to blurt out all the things he had meant to say before he walked through the front door and kissed him. But somehow, he couldn't. And Paul looked like he understood the struggle, because he walked to Daryl, taking his hand and smiling softly.

"Take me to bed, Daryl."

So he did just that. He turned them around, heading to the corner of the room in which the bed was pushed, waiting for them. They undressed quickly, helping each other with the button of their shirts and the belt of their jeans before letting their discarded clothes fall on the floor, quickly forgotten. Once they were naked, standing in front of each other, Daryl felt his cheeks heat up and ducked his head, hiding himself behind his bangs.

"Oh no, you don't get to hide yourself, babe" whispered Paul, once again taking his hand to lead him to the bed, where they both fell and laid down.

Facing each other, eyes locked into one another, Daryl felt himself slowly relax. It was what he had wanted from the start, after all. With a soft but shy smile, he scooped a little closer to his lover and raised his hand to caress Paul's cheek softly.

"You're beautiful" whispered Paul, letting his gaze take in his lover's body, not even hiding the pink blush on his cheeks. "So beautiful."  
"I'm not" snorted Daryl, bending a little to kiss the scout. "But you are."  
"This is getting very, very cheesy."

He could not going to fight him on this one. Daryl wasn't used to cheesiness, nor was he used to the gentle caresses Paul laid on his body. He could feel the young man's digit tracing his entire torso, playing with his chest hair before grazing a nipple, making him twitch. He then felt Paul slide his hand against his back, and tensed immediately.

"You want me to stop?" asked Paul, looking up at Daryl.

In his eyes, Daryl could read all the love the younger man held from him.

"No. It's just… It's not pretty, alright?"  
"You are pretty" insisted Paul, smiling softly.  
"If you say so."

Paul did not insist, although Daryl could see him frowning a little. He exhaled loudly when his lover's fingertips grazed the scarred skin of his back, and closed his eyes.

"Your father?" finally asked Paul, his voice steady.

Daryl nodded.

"It's been a long time. It's okay now. It's just…." He didn't finish, but he didn't need to, either.  
"Is it why you've asked me this? To get naked, and learn to know each other?"

The hunter opened his eyes, instantly crossing Paul's blue gaze. He lost himself in the ocean of his lover's pupils for a moment, before nodding.

"It helped, yes. But I just… I want to learn your body, Paul" he whispered, looking at his lover's body, caressing his skin with soft fingers. "I want to learn how to love it, how to worship it. I want to make you feel good, I want to learn what you like and what you prefer. But I couldn't ask that during sex, you know? I needed guidance before."

He stopped, unsure, looking a little sheepish.

"I know it sounds crazy. But I wanted this intimacy." he finally breathed out.  
"It's not crazy at all" replied Paul instantly, putting a warm hand against Daryl's cheek. His eyes were a little teary, and Daryl wondered if he had said something wrong. "It's not crazy at all. And you, mister Daryl Dixon, are going to be the death of me."

He wriggled a little bit to be able to kiss Daryl fully on the lips, slipping in tongue between the hunter's parted mouth. The kiss deepened pretty quickly, their hands roaming against each other's body without urgency, and they finally parted for air after a little while, lips glistening with saliva.

"I needed this, too" admitted Paul, smiling. "I wanted this, with you. Because it will never be about sex, you and me. And I just never knew if you'd feel the same."

Their bodies were considerably closer now, their hips flushed against each other and their semi hard cocks touching. But neither men paid them attention. Paul's fingers caressed Daryl's back once again, appreciating the fact that he wasn't tensing at all this time. Daryl let himself enjoy the contact, closing his eyes and pushing his face against Paul's neck, breathing in the scent musky of the younger man and deposing a few kisses against the sensitive skin there.

"I'll always feel the same" he whispered against the scout's neck, so softly that Paul wasn't sure he had actually heard it. He did not mention it, though, his fingers never stopping their caress.

Outside the trailer, the moon was high in the sky, bathing the Hilltop in a soft light.

They did not feel themselves falling asleep. At some point, Paul had realized that Daryl's body was lax against his, his breath coming out in a regular pace, and closed his eyes as well. And the next thing they new, they were awaken the next morning by Maggie's knock on the door.

In said morning, things were not as weird as Daryl thought it would be.

His morning wood did brush against Paul's thigh, the scout chuckling against his mouth when they kissed each other good morning, but neither of them said a single thing about it just like the previous night. Daryl knew that Paul was excited as well, no matter how quickly he rose from the bed and put something on to open to their friend.

Sex would come later. Daryl was sure of it, now. It didn't feel as frightening as the previous day, and he knew that when they would eventually get to the act, he would trust Paul. Just like he had trusted him with his body and feelings the day before.

Because it was Paul. And after all, Daryl loved him. He wasn't ready to say it yet, but he would get there, just like everything else.


End file.
